Read Online An Impossible Confession by Sandra Heath - Free Book Online Page B

you?’
    ‘Well….’
    ‘Shame on you, sir. I notice you don’t think I should avoid the four days of the race meeting.’
    ‘That’s different.’
    ‘You, sirrah, have a selective conscience.’
    ‘And you are too given to wrapping your waspish tongue around me,’ he grumbled, grinning.
    ‘You deserve it.’
    Helen was impatient to know about the ball. ‘There’s to be a ball?’
    ‘Yes,’ said Margaret immediately, ‘at Farrish House in Windsor on the eve of the race meeting, in about two weeks’ time. It’s a masked ball, and everyone who’s anyone attends.’
    ‘And I will, too?’
    ‘Of course. I’m taking you to Windsor very shortly to choose a costume from a couturière there who specializes in such things. She’s promised to keep several costumes aside just for you.’
    Gregory smiled. ‘All you have to remember, little sister, is that you wear the fancy dress to Farrish House, not to the Prince Regent’s dinner party.’
    ‘I think Miss Figgis taught me just about enough to get that right, thank you,’ responded Helen.
    The Pekoe and sweet almond biscuits were brought, and as Helen accepted her cup, the conversation suddenly took a very different turn.
    Gregory leaned forward to select a biscuit. ‘Tell me, Helen, at what on earth time did you leave Cheltenham this morning to reach here in the middle of the afternoon?’
    ‘An age ago, it seems,’ she replied vaguely.
    ‘It must have been.’ He didn’t pursue the point.
    ‘Helen tells me there are still highwaymen to be found terrorizing the king’s highway,’ said Margaret.
    Gregory was immediately interested. ‘Not Lord Swag, by any chance?’
    ‘Why, yes,’ replied Helen. ‘You’ve obviously heard of him.’
    ‘He’s struck in the neighborhood of Windsor on two occasions recently. I hope you didn’t encounter him.’
    ‘No. I – I did have an alarming encounter of another sort, though. There was nearly a very nasty accident, and I might have been killed if someone’s quick thinking hadn’t saved me in the very nick of time.’
    Margaret was alarmed. ‘Oh, Helen, what on earth happened?’
    Helen hesitated, but she had to mention Adam at some point in the proceedings, and now was as good a time as any. ‘We’d stopped at an inn to, er, change the horses. A dog frightened the team of a stagecoach, and I was almost trampled, because I chose that of all moments to alight. Lord Drummond pulled me to safety in time.’
    The room was suddenly so quiet, the proverbial pin could have been heard to drop. Helen looked quickly from Margaret to Gregory. Their faces were very still. ‘Have I said something wrong?’ she asked at last, knowing full well that she had.
    Gregory put down his cup. ‘Are you referring to Adam Drummond?’ he asked stiffly.
    ‘Yes.’
    Margaret drew a long breath. ‘Oh, no. Of all the men in England, it had to be him!’
    Gregory looked at Helen. ‘I realize you have every reason to be grateful to him, and if he saved your life, then we’re grateful to him as well, but apart from that, I won’t have his name mentioned in this house.’
    Helen was taken aback. ‘But….’
    ‘Have I made myself clear, Helen?’
    She had to nod. ‘Yes. Perfectly clear.’
    ‘Good. And now, if you will both excuse me, I have much to do.’ Snatching up his hat, gloves, and riding crop, he walked out past his telescope to the veranda, his limp emphasized by his anger.
    Stunned, Helen stared after him. Whatever she’d been expecting from a mention of Adam, it hadn’t been this. She’d never seenGregory so angry, He was usually so placid and amiable, but it seemed that she’d certainly found a way of touching him on a raw nerve. She looked askance at Margaret. ‘Will you explain all this to me?’
    ‘As I said earlier, it’s all best left, and now that you’ve seen how it affects Gregory, perhaps you’ll accept that I’m right. It nearly resulted in Gregory’s being unfairly banned from racing, and it